A Rainy Day in Cambridge

Day 21

So I slept that night on Aubrey's floor curled up in her comforter.  Not the most comfortable place to sleep but it wasn't really set up for extras and I did sleep so no big deal.  She got up and went to orientation such and I slept in and got ready.

The Snug

 I walked to the place next door for the biggest English Breakfast ever: baked beans, British bacon, a sausage link, hash browns, toast, a tomato, and mushrooms.  I couldn't believe I ate it all and washed it down with a lovely cup of hot cocoa.  My waitress was really nice, and I had the whole place to myself.

I then headed out to explore the city as Aubs had so much to do in getting everything ready for school and her flat and was not sure when she would be done, plus the lovely fact that neither of us had cell phones as a way of contacting each other.  I mean being unplugged was so relaxing, but the convenience of communication is a wonder.

As it was raining I ducked into a shop and found the cutest clear bubble umbrella and from then on was undaunted by the weather no matter what it did.  I found a cute bookshop and saw all the Harry Potter books with fun covers.

This the bench where I sat and red one of the books I bought as a souvenir.  People watching was fun too.

One of the colleges of Cambridge, did you know that Cambridge University is not actually a single college, but 31 one self-governing institutions that run themselves almost entirely separate of each other.

If you notice this store was established in 1689?  How many times can you say you have seen something like that, but in Cambridge it is not uncommon, very cool though.

Wish I could have been there for that.

People ride bikes everywhere and it is the perfect size town to do it in.

A grasshopper clock.

Punting on the river.

Don't sit there!

 The Fitzwilliam Museum

It was so rainy and cold that I went back to the Snug for a second cup of hot cocoa and to just sit and read.

 So cozy.

I also watched part of Wimbledon on the TV.  It was on everywhere in England and rather captivating to watch.

 They were going to have a 4th of July celebration the next day.  What a thought!

I met up with Aubrey that night and we went to the FHE group with all the other Cambridge people and it made me wish I were staying and enjoying their company and the learning experience instead of heading back to London and home so soon. 

Oh and Aubrey showed me a few things of her college. Pembroke Library.

Busy Dizzy Sabbath

Day 20

Up we got very early and headed to the train station with all our luggage and were quite a sight.  We were wonderfully lucky and rather early for our train that we got a whole section of the train to ourselves and our luggage so that we could talk and laugh and enjoy our time together talking about what is to come and our experiences with the traveling in Europe.  Once we got to Cambridge we headed to the taxi area (and I love having gentlemen around because I didn't end up carrying any of my own language).  We had a short and easy ride to the church building and were able to simply relax.  We were even lucky enough to find members of the church willing to give us a ride to Aubrey's flat.

Isn't it just an adorable location?

2nd floor window is her study.

The deadly stairs...the smallest, steepest I have ever encountered, not to mention the addition of carrying up suitcases.

She quickly set up her adorable little room very nicely.

 Than we headed to King's College for her check in.

Can you believe that she gets to go to school there?

That evening we went back to the King's College and attended evensong.  All young men singing reminded me of "Perfect Harmony" and is very soothing.  I mean boys singing is such a pure innocent tone.

Aubrey was terribly relieved to finally be able to unpack and settle herself in one place.  It does get a little exhausting living out of a suitcase and moving around every few days.  Homes are just wonderful.

New Friends....Good and Odd

Day 19

Morning was rather easy as we weren't in too much of a hurry.  We realized we had to book an extra night in our hostel for we had apparently miss counted somewhere, but they had a spot for us so no problem.  We also had a fun surprise in the fact that several of the people from the Cambridge program that Aubrey was in were staying in our hostel.  So we made plans to meet up with them later.  And a random rather older and odd Hispanic guy that was in their room joined us.  First place we headed was...

The British Museum

The Rosetta Stone

Now I can't read it at all but it is a rather interesting piece of history and to tell the truth Aubrey got so emotional that she teared up a bit when she saw it.

Another of my lions.

Ramesses II

My fun thought was the fact that this whole in his chest is believed to be from Napoleon's expedition trying to remove the statue in the early 1800s, having been created in 1270 BC.  That Napoleon seems to get himself in everywhere in history.

Red breccia figure of the goddess Taweret who is the goddess associated with childbirth.  Shown as usual as a pregnant hippo, which made me thought of Sharon's comparison of herself as a hippo when she is pregnant.  Just plain sweet if you ask me.

Tribute bearers bringing a pair of monkeys to a king who collects exotic animals.  If you get to do that, I might enjoy being a king.

Return from the Lion Hunt

After all my majestic lions it kind of made me sad to see this.

The Nereid Monument

It was absolutely beautiful to be able to look at and want to touch a great deal.  These museums have such large pieces that makes me wonder how in the world  they built the building.

Horse Day

There was an exhibition of riding horses outside and throughout there were fun hands on art tables for people to get more involved in their experience.  I loved it as so many feel like art as well as history are too dry and unable to be touched or affecting their own lives.

There was a band teaching us how to make horse beats in this collection area.  I even joined in and used a tambourine to make a lovely noise.

Perikles, citizen and soldier

Such a beautiful piece of skill.

Gold coin of Croesus

How would you like to wear such a headdress?

An old game I want to make and possibly play.  Who knows it could be a lot of fun.

Directions.

The Royal Library at Nineveh

Words have always had such an affect on people of the world.  We can never let it go or remain undone.

Mummies

There were a lot of sarcophagi and it looks rather cool.

The Discus Thrower

or the Discobolus of Myron originally done in bronze down in Greece.

What a fun statue.  Color was great.  But would I put in my home?

Can you believe that my companion, Aubrey, can read this?

Husband and wife, always an important relationship.

Those are some horns.

Aren't carvings just amazing to see how they kept their own stories.

Aubrey and I kept getting separated as we looked at everything, but we always found each other again.  Our odd friend stayed in touch with us for a while, but then we lost him.  To be honest we didn't wait more than a minute after the time we said we would meet.   He was a little odd and we were very hungry and almost completely museumed out as we had been to so many so close together.  It was fun though.

At lunch this is what we drank.  I love that companies make their products personal to the location.  We also ate cheeseburgers and fries at a Greek restaurant in London--made us feel very at home. 

We met up with Aubrey's friends on the river Thames by the Globe theater and headed up and down the road for food and fun.

On our walk down the river we saw this skate park.  Doesn't it just look quite interesting and artistic?  I think most people do not see graffiti that way but it is truly a style unto itself.

I think my favorite is all the layers.

Waterloo Bridge and St. Paul's

We were trying to figure out if anyone else was coming by using the free wi-fi of one of the the buildings on the street.  We hung out with these two guys walking quite a ways down the road and then having dinner at Nandos.  One of the guys asked how such complete opposites as Aubrey and I could be friends.  I told him that we are enough alike in the important stuff and we bring out the other stuff in each other.  For example I am louder and more crazy and Aubrey is a bit more serious.  But then Aubrey went to get our sauces and ended up coming back with every single one they have, meaning 7, and it took 3 trips.  The more she brought the more she got excited.  It was then the guy said smiling, "Okay, I can see that."

The Globe

I got excited when I saw this, but I didn't get to go see a show for a couple of days yet.

Kensington and Hyde Park

After we ate we decided to head to the park to see the parks and the Princess Diana Playground.  On the way we were talking and enjoying the greenery.  We saw a group of boys playing soccer and all mentioned just so great it is that there are some ways of communicating that go beyond language.  It is taking America a little while to really get on the ban wagon, but a few of us truly understand it.

As we walked we passed one of my favorite things...the statue of

Peter Pan

On the bottom of the statue it has, fairies...

rabbits... and much more. :)

Wouldn't you want to fly away to Never Land with that playful boy?

Queen Victoria

Outside her childhood home of 

Kensington Palace

We actually got kicked out of the park by a policeman driving by with a bullhorn.  But we were headed to try and find a few more guys from the Cambridge program to give them a suitcase someone had brought over for them.  As we walked over someone grabbed one of the guys and pointed at his BYU shirt, he was wearing a BYU hat!  It ended up being the guys we were looking for.  Wahoo, it all worked out.

We spent the rest of the night hanging out with them in our Hostels mainroom and decided that we would all travel down to Cambridge the next morning on the same train and go to church together.